FERNDALE -- If the first half was the Warriors' appetizer, then the third quarter was their main course.

The Hoopa Valley boys basketball team outscored Ferndale 27-12 in the third quarter as the Warriors recorded a convincing 63-36 win over the Wildcats in the Cream City on Friday night.

After leading by 12 points at halftime, Hoopa stretched its to 53-26 entering the final quarter of play, doubling its point total in the process.

"We struggled at times (in the first half), but the defensive intensity was the biggest part for us," Hoopa head coach Tony McClure said in regards to the Warriors' big run. "Instead of making turnovers, we were forcing turnovers."

With the victory -- the Warriors' 16 straight league win -- Hoopa finishes the first half of the Little 4 schedule a perfect 3-0 and improved to 15-4 on the season.

Ferndale fell to 0-3 in league play and 5-12 on the season.

"It's always nice to go 3-0 to start out. The good thing for us is that two of the next three are at home," McClure said. "We're looking to get the best seed we possibly can in our section for playoffs and we've already gotten some quality wins so far."

The Warriors, who never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 14-4 lead early in the second quarter thanks to a 10-0 run.

And while the visitors were showing signs of offense in the first half, the home was struggling to get things going.

The Wildcats hit just three field goals and went just 8 of 20 from the free throw line in the first 16 minutes of the game.

In total, Ferndale was 9 for 33 from the charity stripe against Hoopa.

"We've struggled offensively all year," Ferndale head coach Steve Coppini said. "I thought defensively we played well in the first half. Any time you can keep a team like (Hoopa) to 26 points, you've done a good job. I'm proud of the way our kids battled."

Come the beginning of the second half, the Warriors took complete control.

Tule O'Rourke and Logan Ferris each hit a 3-pointer in the first minute of the third quarter to begin a 14-2 run to open the period.

Even then, the Warriors still had their foot on the gas.

After Tahn Blake scored all of his seven points of the game in quick succession, the Warriors scored more points in the third quarter (27) than they did all of the first half (26).

O'Rourke, who hit three of Hoopa's six 3-pointers, finished with a game-high 17 points. Senior forward Milton Stewart, the Warriors' leading scorer this season at nearly 21 points a contest, added in 11 and Ferris had eight.

"We didn't shoot the ball well in the first half," McClure said. "But when we're able to get the ball into Milton, it opens up our inside-outside game a lot more. And when we're hitting from the outside, it opens things up for Milton in the paint."

Sophomore guard Brad Martin scored a team-high 13 points for the Wildcats. Mikhai Hamor and Wyatt Standley each recorded six points.

"They did a good job taking away our outside shooters," Coppini said of Hoopa Valley's defense. "We were trying to attack the basket a little more than we have, but that was the first time all year we haven't hit a 3-pointer in the first half."